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 here's a movement
afoot in South Dakota to prevent Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle
from running for both the White House and the Senate in 2004. State
law currently bars dual candidacies in all cases except a combination
that includes president or vice president — which means Daschle
could swing for the fences in two years and still try to keep his
current job in Washington. Republicans would be wise to let him
go for both.
The enormous
temptation, of course, is to block his ambition. Running in two
races is only possible because Daschle technically wouldn't appear
on the ballot twice: In the presidential race, voters choose electors
rather than the actual candidates. Democrats fearful of life in
the private sector have taken advantage of these state-law loopholes
for years. In 2000, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut ran for vice president
and the Senate. Twelve years earlier, Lloyd Bentsen of Texas did
the same thing.
It would be
nice to force a real choice on Daschle. He is currently the country's
most prominent Democrat. If his party keeps control of the Senate
this year, Daschle would have as good a chance as anybody at winning
the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004. He may very well
reach for the brass ring — especially if he doesn't have to
risk giving up his safe seat at the same time.
State representative
Matt McCaulley, who is sponsoring the legislation to stop Daschle,
told the Argus Leader (of Sioux Falls) last week that he
isn't singling out the majority leader: "Congressman [John]
Thune is also sometimes talked about as a future presidential possibility."
Uh, ok.
But let's not
kid ourselves: Daschle is the target. Should Republicans proceed
against him?
The principled,
good-government answer is yes. People probably shouldn't be allowed
to run for two offices at once, despite the fig leaf of "electors."
But this isn't what we're talking about. The question is whether
it's in the GOP's partisan interests to stop Daschle — and
it's not.
South Dakota
Gov. Bill Janklow, a Republican, is said to have a keen interest
in running for the Senate. He would enter the race against Daschle
as an underdog, but perhaps not by much. That's an enticing prospect:
Daschle caught between a difficult national contest and a tough
challenge at home, all the while trying to juggle his responsibilities
as the leader of the Senate. It's a chore Bob Dole couldn't manage.
But even if
a Janklow candidacy doesn't materialize, there's a good reason for
letting Daschle compete in both races. He may be liberal, but his
South Dakota ties keep him from going off the deep end. Take an
issue such as free trade — something South Dakota farmers certainly
want. Last month, the House passed Trade Promotion Authority by
a single vote. Most of the Senate also favors it, though most Senate
Democrats — or Democrats anywhere, for that matter — do
not. Daschle hasn't shown his hand yet, but opposing free trade
in South Dakota is probably a tough sell. If Daschle wants to seek
the presidency and is simultaneously unmoored from South Dakota
politics by a law the keeps him from running for two offices, then
TPA doesn't stand a chance in the Senate. That would deliver a solid
blow to any conservative economic agenda.
Republicans
don't have much to lose — except the possibility of giving
Janklow a clear shot at a Senate seat if Daschle picks the White
House over the Senate. But that assumes many things about decisions
that haven't been made yet, by either Daschle or Janklow.
So let Tom
run — it may compel him to put everything he has on the line,
at little cost to the GOP.
Say What?
Worldwatch Institute president Christopher Flavin explains why September
11 really happened: "If the lofty social and ecological
goals of the [1992] Rio Earth Summit had been achieved, it is possible
that the crisis of the last year would not have occurred."
David
Mastio exposes the fraud.
He
Has a Dream
Peter
Kirsanow, the labor lawyer whose position on the U.S. Commission
on Civil Rights is currently in dispute, will deliver an MLK address
at the Heritage Foundation on January 17. The event begins at noon
and is open to the public.
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